Meet the gunsmith: Adolphsen Bros. Custom Muzzle Loaders: First-rate custom smokepoles from the Maine woods

Guns Magazine, August, 2002 by David M. Fortier

When it comes to traditional style flintlock rifles, most builders choose to copy Pennsylvania or Virginia designs. Or if not, they tend to build a copy of a heavier Jaeger rifle. Either way it seems as if most people are simply reproducing variations of the same theme.

Thus it is a pleasure to introduce GUNS readers to Alan Adolphsen, and his brother Glen, of Adolphsen Bros. Custom Muzzle Loaders. They have taken a somewhat different, and unique, attitude towards building fine, handcrafted flintlock rifles.

Land Of History

Located in rural Maine, they've managed to incorporate into their rifles the distinctive history and flavor of their home state. Maine not only has a long history dating back to the 16th century, but her vast coastline (longer than California's) ensured that she was often a battleground. The two most common European antagonists being the French and English, but the Dutch also fought here. And Castine, Maine briefly became part of New Holland.

During the French and Indian Wars, members of the Maine militia and the British Army fought the Royal French Army and Marines and their Native American allies. One notable success was when they laid siege to, and then captured, Fort Louisburg in Nova Scotia. While the French were defeated, their influence is still strongly felt in Maine today. French is still a common language, and numerous towns and rivers carry French names.

Later, during our Revolution, a number of British merchantmen fell victim to hardy Maine Privateers. And an American fleet trapped in the Penobscot was defiantly scuttled rather than allowing itself to be captured by a squadron of British Men of War. The British returned during the War of 1812 and occupied Castine until the end of the War. None of this history was lost on Alan Adolphsen when he began designing his Knox County rifles.

Today Maine is still considered part of the frontier, where people move to get away and live on the edge. A man very close to the earth, Alan Adolphsen typifies the native Mainer. Rugged, independent and capable, he is quite at home in this very frontier-like state.

Well known in my part of Maine for his scratch built flintlocks, Adolphsen served in both the Coast Guard and the Army. In the Coast Guard he was a small boat engineer, boarding officer, and small arms instructor. After leaving the Coast Guard he joined the Army and became a Mountain Infantry unit.

When I asked him how he came to build flintlocks, he said it all started with a Christmas present he received at the age of five. It was a book titled The Age of Firearms. In it was a picture of a double barrel flintlock with an ivory stock. fascinated by it, he always wanted to build one. He built his first muzzleloader, a caplock rifle kit, at the age of 14 and has been building and shooting them ever since. As such, he is basically self taught.

While his rifles are beautiful, and would look right at home hung over a fireplace, they are first and foremost working guns. An avid outdoorsman, he demands a rifle that cannot just survive hard use and abuse -- but thrives on it, all the while putting meat in the pot. This is one area where the traditional rifles from Southern states have had problems. In Alan's mind, they simple aren't rugged enough.

So he developed his Knox County rifle, appropriately named for the county in which he was born and lives. Of interest is the fact that this county is named after General Henry Knox, George Washington's foremost artillery man. Looking at a Knox county rifle, one can see the strong influence of British and French military weapons from the 1750 to 1800s in Alan's design. This can be seen in the profile of his rifles, their wrists, and butt. But there is much more internally that sets his rifles apart.

Built For Rugged Use

While many traditional techniques are used to assemble the rifle, and where possible extra strength is carefully built into the guns, Alan's guns have a triggerbar that runs down past the comb. This allows him to use through-bolts rather than common wood screws to hold the rifle together. While this may seem strange for a traditional style rifle, Adolphsen has a very good argument for this design.

"In a traditional style rifle, just the weight of the barrel has a tendency to loosen the breech and tang area of the barrel over the course of time," Adolphsen said. "This is due to the minimal amount of wood remaining in a stock around the lock and breech. That's why so many old guns have a broken wrist or lock mortise.

"So by using a triggerbar, and sometimes a long tang, it gives my rifles an exoskeleton. My rifles are made to endure continuous usage and maintenance. Woodscrews being taken in and out weaken the wood over time. This is not an issue with machine screws."

Each rifle is built from scratch with the exception of the lock and barrel blank. The lock is purchased from whichever maker the customer prefers. This gives the availability of spare parts for the lock. Barrel blanks are also dictated by the customer, and are then shaped by hand. The stock, unless intended for a re-enactors musket, will be fancy. Cherry, maple, and walnut are the usual choices. No varnishes are applied either, the wood's glossy look is from being hand rubbed. Stock carvings are based upon the customer's desires and can range from simple to ornate. All other metal parts are formed by hand from raw metal. No castings of any type are used.